On a Wing and a Prayer

Author's Note: Adding a few more warnings which include Yaoi/Slash *m/m* and rape. It gets kind of dark beyond here for awhile so read with caution. More OC's show up which make for a fun time. As always reviews are welcome...

Part Four

Darkness falls and they are only halfway back. She wants to keep going. Her level of panic was rising with each moment. However, she was tired and needed the rest. She kneels panting trying to catch her breath. “We should head back to that inn,” D says.

“I...I...” she tries.

“Natalie, you need to rest.”

“W-we have to find him.”

“We will. However, you cannot push yourself too far. If he's in trouble you need to have your wits around you to help him.”

She wants to argue but she couldn't. He was right. She had to rest. She just doesn't want to. Virdi was somewhere here and could be in danger. It was times like these that people had a hard time believing Virdi was older than her by almost two centuries. “Fine,” she concedes. There was nothing else she could do.

D helps her onto the horse as her body had been pushed far too hard to go any further on it's own and they return to the inn they had stayed the night before. They are given the same two rooms and D helps her to hers before biding her good night and leaving. Natalie looks out the window and whispers, “Please be alright, Virdi” before pulling the blankets over herself and falling into a fitful sleep.

She wakes up feeling no better than she had when she closed her eyes though her body is rested. Right now, all her thoughts were on her brother. Unlike Jared and Vega, Virdi's temperment made it hard for him to be violent. It was why they tried to keep him away from places like this. He hadn't quite lost that innocence about him.

She was trying her best to be optimistic to not worry but that was hard. If he had left recently then he would have caught up with them...unless something bad HAD befallen him. 'You had better be alright,' she thinks, 'or so help me, Virdi, I WILL kill you myself!' She just wished Vega had told her how long ago it was that he went missing. However, knowing him like she did, he wouldn't have bothered her unless it had been awhile. That makes her worry more.

“How likely is it that he hasn't gotten himself into trouble?” D asks.

“Not likely. Vega wouldn't have contacted me unless he'd been missing for awhile.”

“So, he's either gotten himself hurt or gotten on the wrong side of someone else.”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any way of locating him?”

“I can try. Sometimes, I can find someone just by concentrating and thinking about them but that doesn't always work.”

“Anything helps right now.”

She nods before closing her eyes and concentrates on Virdi. She had to find him if she didn't...Her eyes snap open and she covers her mouth before she screams. Her legs give out but D manages to catch her before she hits the floor. “Natalie?”

She'd managed to connect to him...and through that connection been hit by the pain he was in. “D-damn it,” she manages, “Someone's hurting my brother.”

“Do you know where?”

“It can't be far. If I managed to connect and feel his emotions, it has to be close by.”

“Alright. Let's go.”

It takes her a few steps before she's completely solid again. She hadn't been prepared for it. Whoever had harmed her brother was going to pay dearly when she found them. D quickly mounts and she takes no time spilling her wings out. She closes her eyes again and focuses once more. Knowing now that he was injured, she could locate him the way she had located D. The injuries were bad enough that the healing part of her would be compelled to go. She slowly turns in a circle and stops sensing deep wounds. “I think he's this way.”

“You think?”

“Well, unless there is someone else nearby badly injured then yes, it's him. My ability to find people based on injuries is not exact, D. I found you because I was searching for someone who felt like they were dying.”

“Then it's as good a direction as any. Let's go.”

She nods before opening her wings and taking off. 'Hold on, Virdi,' she thinks, 'We are coming.' Hopefully he would be alright until they got there. If not, there WOULD be bloodshed. She would make sure of it. Even if he was alive there would STILL be bloodshed. No one hurt her family. No one.

They come to what looks like an abandoned cabin in desperate need of repair. She could sense three other people other than the injured person. “There's four people total,” she tells D.

The Dunpeal nods before silently dismounting and walking to her side. He then pulls the sword out of its sheath as the door opens. “Well, what do we have here?” a voice, familiar to Natalie's ears, asks in a sneering tone.

“Demenir, you should know better than to touch my brother,” she says coldly, “Even Aerian won't be able to save you from my brothers and father for this.”

“Oh? And since when do you think Aerian doesn't know what he's doing?”

“Since he's obviously an idiot. He's crossing the wrong family.”

“Mmm...I don't think so. Though he might find it interesting that you are traveling with a man.”

“Don't even,” she warns summoning ice, “I am not about to deal with his delusions.” The brown haired archangel before her was a menace. He was one of Aerian's many lackeys which meant that the two inside were the same. She doesn't give the male time to respond before flinging her power out and freezing him. “It won't hold for long,” she says, “So let's move quickly.”

“Understood.”

Ten minutes later, Natalie is kneeling beside her brother and forcing his wounds closed. “Idiot,” she chastises, “You should be more careful!”

“It's not MY fault that they drug me here!” he argues weakly, “YOU'RE the one pissing Aerian off.”

“Would you LIKE me to let him own me?”

“Well, no, but...”

“Then expect him to be mad, Virdi. You are smarter than this. He knows my family is important to me. I don't want him to find a way to keep me from being able to protect you.”

“He already has.”

Natalie doesn't like the sound of that. “What do you mean?” she demands as he slowly stands up. He doesn't answer. “Virdi...” He brushes himself off. “Virdi, dammit, talk to me!”

“He knows.”

“He knows WHAT?”

“He knows I like men.”

Natalie stills. Oh. Oh shit. “He wouldn't...He wouldn't actually...”

“He would actually tell the council that.”

She closes her eyes. It would be a death sentence if Aerian did that and no one would be able to protect him. It was one of the laws her father was trying his hardest to change. He almost had a enough votes...but not yet. “I will handle this, Virdi.”

“You cannot give in just because...”

“If I have no other choice I will. I won't let him hurt those I love.”

“Natalie...”

“No, Virdi, I don't want to hear it. If I can't find a way to get rid of him then I will do what has to be done. I won't sacrifice you...not for me. I am not nearly worth that.”

Virdi grabs her shoulders tightly. “Don't you say that! You are MY sister and you are worth EVERYTHING to me. I will NOT see you unhappy...especially at the whims of someone like Aerian.”

“And I won't lose you.”

“You won't.” It was D.

She turns towards him. “Don't YOU start.”

“I promised that I would deal with him and I meant it.”

“D,” she groans, “He'll murder you.”

“I disagree.”

“Of course you do. You haven't met him yet.”

“Who is this?” Virdi asks.

“This is D. He's a Dunpeal.”

“Ah, the famous vampire hunter,” the blond murmurs, “So how did you meet him?”

“I saved him from dying, actually so now he thinks he owes me.”

“I DO owe you.”

She glares at him. “D, I am NOT going to tell you again that you owe me nothing.”

“Natalie, has no one explained that a man's pride won't let him doing anything less than repay his debts?”

She rolls her eyes. “No, I live with four males none of which seem to have the common sense of a fruitfly.”

“Hey!”

She smiles sweetly at him. “So I don't understand why it is you HAVE to prove anything. I do NOT want to be the reason he actually gets blinked out of existence.”

“I did tell you that regardless of your opinion I am going to take care of him and I will.”

She throws her hands up. “Why do I always have to get stuck with stubborn men?”

“Fate?” Virdi suggests in a tone that is clearly amused.

“You be quiet! I am going to go and send word to our hysterical family members that you are okay.”

“For now.”

She goes quiet a moment. Virdi really WAS worried about this...and he had every right to be. “I told you that I would take care of it and I meant it.”

“Natalie...”

She cuts him off. “Virdi, you are my brother. I will do whatever I have to do to keep you from getting hurt.”

“There are some sacrifices I do NOT want you to make.”

She smiles. “Sorry, that's not your decision, big brother.”

“She won't do anything rash.”

D's comment makes her turn in his direction. “Oh, and how are YOU going to manage that?” she demands.

“I already told you, I am going to take care of that menace.”

Okay, now she was really, really agitated with him. If he wasn't going to listen to her then his death was his own damn fault. However, she doubts that she'll believe that...not truly. He'd become important to her whether she wanted to admit it or not and she had no desire to see him die for trying to repay a debt he thought he owed her. “Wow, sis, he's determined.”

“He's going to get himself killed with that attitude.”

“Then that is my choice.”

There really was no talking to the man. “You should probably go home, Vird,” she says after a moment, “Dad, Jared, and Vega are worried.”

“I can't.”

“What do you mean, you can't?”

“If I do, he'll tell the council immediately.”

She stares at him for a moment. That bastard was pushing her into a corner she didn't like. However, this was her brother and she refused to let someone hurt him. “Alright. I'll send word that you are okay but you've decided to spend some time with me. We'll figure this out, big brother, I promise.” She didn't know if it was plausible but it was a promise she intended to keep.

They return to the inn with Virdi and Natalie leans against the wall of the room. Things were spiraling out of her control so quickly and now...now she was holding the lives of two men in her hands. She couldn't do it. She couldn't just stand by and let this happen. It wasn't in her nature to let someone else get hurt because of her. She walks to the window and stares out of it contemplating everything that was going on. As much as she was loathed to do it...could she condemn not only Virdi but D as well? No. She could not just stand by and watch this. 'You win,' she thinks, 'I am done. My freedom is not worth the death of my brother and someone I am beginning to care about.'

While her heart revolted at the very thought of being with the arrogant bastard, it was better than knowing that she'd managed to kill two innocents. She would wait until both males had fallen asleep...and then she'd leave. It would be better this way. Virdi could go home and D...well, D could go back to doing what D did best. It would be best for everyone this way.

Finally, both fall into slumber and she carefully places a note in the folds of her brother's robes. “Going on a nightly stroll?” a voice asks almost making her jump. She looks towards the Dunpeal.

“None of your business,” she says quietly, “Now don't wake him up.”

“Sneaking off, then.”

“You and I both know he'll die if he goes up against Aerian.”

“That was a given.”

“Then just let me handle this.”

“He's not going to like it.”

“I know. I just...” She walks over and tucks the blankets around him, “Just don't wake him up.”

“Far be it from me to stop you from getting yourself into trouble.”

She places a soft kiss on the male's brow. “Sleep well, D.”

“Cute, fallen for him, have you?”

“If I have, it's none of your business,” she retorts, “and I know it will go no where. He's got far too much going on.” Without waiting for a response, she leaves before she loses her nerve. Slipping outside, she changes tops as her wings spill out. “I am sorry...both of you...but it has to be this way.”